John 1:1-5 - The Witness to the Revelation of Jesus Christ
CHAPTER ONE
The Witness to the Revelation of Jesus Christ, 1:1-51
Jesus the Living Word: The First Witness of John the Apostle—1:1-5
Introduction:
A. Jesus Christ is
1. the Word of life.
2. the Creator of life.
3. the Very Being and Essence of life.
B. The Word (logos) is Jesus Christ.
The problem John faced in writing to the Gentiles, non-Jewish world, is that most of them have never heard of the Messiah or Savior who was expected by the Jews. How was John going to present Christ so the Gentiles can understand?
The answer is in the idea of the Word, for both Gentile and Jew understood the Word.
1. The Jew saw a word as something more than a mere sound.
a. A word was something that possessed the power to express & do something.
1) Genesis 1:3, 6, 11
2) Ps. 33:6, 107:20; 147:15
3) Isaiah 55:10-11
2. The Gentiles & Greeks saw the Word more philosophically [a basic theory concerning a specific subject].
a. The Gentiles saw that there was order in the world of nature, not chaotic.
1) Everything moved & grew in an orderly fashion, stars & vegetation.
2) Therefore, behind the world was a mind, a reason, and a power that made and kept things in its proper place.
a) Acts 17:28 – "for in Him we live and move and have our being.’
b) Colossians 1:17 – He holds all things together
3) This was the Word.
b. The Word (logos) was the power that enabled man to think & reason.
1) The power that enabled a mans mind to put his thoughts in an orderly fashion – Colossians 2:3.
3. John used this common idea for both the Jew & Gentile.
– John proclaimed that Jesus Christ was the Word.
– John saw that a word describes what is in the mind of a person.
– Therefore, in the life of Jesus Christ, God was speaking to the world, just what God wanted to say to man.
a. God has given us more than mere words; God has given us Jesus Christ The Word.
1) John 1:14
2) Philippians 2:5-11
b. Jesus Christ is the Power, Mind, & Reason that made and keeps things in its proper place.
1) John 1:3
c. Jesus Christ is the Light, the Power that penetrates the darkness of the world.
1) John 1:4-5
I. Christ is Eternal—v.1-2
A. Preexistent
He was there before creation; He existed before His birth.
1. “In the beginning” does not mean from the beginning – John 1:1; Genesis 1:1; 1 John 1:1
– Jesus Christ did not become, He was not created, He never had a beginning.
– He “was in the beginning with God”
a. "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was – John 17:5 NKJV
2. The word “was’ (en) is the Greek imperfect tense of eimi which is used for deity.
– To be or I am; continuous existence, without beginning or origin.
a. Philippians 2:6-8 cf. 2 Cor. 8:9
THE IMPORTANCE OF PREEXISTENCE
· At Birth – if Christ came into His existence at His birth, then no eternal trinity exist.
· Not God – if Christ was not preexistent then He is not God, for God is eternal.
· A liar – if Christ was not preexistent then He lied because He claimed to be, then the question arises, ‘What else did He lie about?”
B. Coexistent
1. The word “with” has the idea of both being with & acting toward.
a. Jesus Christ was in the beginning with God – v.2
b. 1 John 1:1-2 – the eternal life, which was with the Father
2. Johns testimony is that Jesus Christ was the Word, who coexisted with God
a. The Godhead – Trinity – 3 Persons – One God
1) Genesis 1:1 in the beginning God created (elohim).
2) Genesis 1:26 – let us – the plural pronouns
C. Self-Existent
The testimony of John was that Jesus Christ was the Word, self-existent and eternal the Supreme Majesty of the universe who has always existed – Jesus Christ is of…
1. The very nature & character of God the Father
He was the Faithful True Witness – Revelation 3:14; 1;5
a. Hebrews 1:3 – who being the brightness of [His] glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
b. Colossians 1:15 – He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
c. John 14:9 – Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, `Show us the Father'?
d. Romans 9:5 – Christ [came], who is over all, [the] eternally blessed God. Amen.
2. He is distinct from God the Father
John did not say “the Word” was the God (ho Theos) but “the Word” was God.
a. 1 Corinthians 8:5-6
b. Matt. 28:19
c. Matt. 3:16-17 Jesus’ baptism
d. 2 Cor. 13:4
e. John 15:26 the Holy Spirit
3. He is Eternal—This says several critical things about Jesus Christ.
John 3:13 cf. 6:38
a. John 5:24 – Christ reveals the most important Person in all the universe, God. Therefore, Christ must be diligently studied
b. John 14:6, 9 – Christ reveals God perfectly, when we see Christ, we see the Father
c. John 5:24-29 – God has revealed through Christ that there will be a resurrection of the dead.
4. The very nature of Christ shall be imparted to believers
a. Romans 8:29
b. Philippians 3:20-21
c. 2 Peter 1:4
d. 1 John 3:2
II. Christ is the Creator—v.3
A. “All things” (panta) means every detail of creation.
1. Each element and thing, being & person--material or spiritual, angelic or human--has come into being by Christ.
a. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist—Colossians 1:16-17 NKJV
b. Revelation 4:8-11 -- "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."
B. “were made” (egeneto) mean came into being or became.
1. Matter or substance is not eternal.
2. God did not take something outside of Himself something less that perfect & create.
3. Christ took nothing but His will & power; & Spoke the Word, & created everything!
C. Jesus Christ is the one who created all things.
1. Creation was His function and Work – Colossians 1:6
a. “[God] has in these last days spoken to us by [His] Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; Hebrews 1:2 NKJV.
b. yet for us [there is] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom [are] all things, and through whom we [live] – 1 Corinthians 8:6 NKJV
c. Christ was actively involved in creation “without Him nothing was made that was made”
2. God cares about everything and every person in the world.
a. God did not create the world, step back and let everything go on its own.
b. God loves you and cares for you, even the smallest of matters in your life, He deeply cares
3. The problems of the world are not due to God, but because of sin, the attitude and evil of mans heart.
D. The Solution to man’s problem is Christ!
1. Man and his technical skills is not the answer to the problems of the world
2. Man must turn to Christ, & give Him their lives
a. `to open their eyes, [in order] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.' Acts 26:18 NKJV.
b. "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land—2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV.
III. Christ is Life—v.4-5
A. Christ is life v.4
1. Without Christ there would be no life whatsoever. Life is in Him, within His very being.
a. "for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, `For we are also His offspring.' (Acts 17:28 NKJV)
2. Life has purpose & meaning & significance for being alive – John 10:10
Your life now has purpose and meaning!
Life – has a depth of meaning.
a. Life is the opposite of perishing
1) Life is the deliverance from condemnation and death.
a) John 3:16; 5:24, 29;
b) John 10:27-28
b. Life is eternal—It is forever
1) The very life of God Himself – John 17:3
c. Life is satisfaction
1) John 6:35 The Bread of Life
d. Life is security and enjoyment
1) John 10:10
e. Life is found only in God
1) God is the author & source of life & has appointed Jesus Christ to bring life to man.
2) Jesus Christ gives the very life of God Himself.
a) John 5:26
b) John 6:27, 40
c) John 10:27-28
d) John 17:23
f. Life has now been revealed
1) Life has been unveiled and has been seen in Jesus Christ.
a) John 1:4-5
b) 1 John 1:2
g. Life only comes to a man by believing in Jesus Christ.
3. Jesus is the source of life, the way of life, & the truth of life.
a. John 17:2-3 eternal life
1) To possess eternal life is to know God
2) To know God is to know Jesus Christ whom God has sent.
B. The source of light v.5
What does light do?
1. Light reveals & strips away
a. "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (John 3:19-20 NKJV).
2. Light guides
a. Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. (John 12:35-36 NKJV)
b. "I have come [as] a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.(John 12:46 NKJV)
c. Your word [is] a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. (Psalms 119:105 NKJV)
3. Light show the way, the truth, and the life
a. John 14:6
4. The knowledge of the life of Christ was to be the light of men.
a. From the beginning man was to know God personally and intimately
b. Light is equated with the knowledge of God. Darkness, as the absence of knowledge, is ignorance of God.
c. Paul in Romans 1:18-23 carefully traced the progression of ignorance as man moved from light to darkness – man suppresses the truth
C. What is darkness? -- Describe both the state and the works of man
1. Darkness refers to the world and the natural man who does not know Jesus Christ – John 8:12
a. John 12:35, 46 – man walks in darkness ignorant of real life.
2. Darkness symbolizes unwatchfulness—the time when evil occurs.
a. Romans 13:11-12 cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8
3. Darkness is loved by men.
a. John 3:19-20
D. The answer to darkness v.5
Christ is the answer to darkness
1. “the light shines in darkness”
a. Christ showed man the way God intended him to live.
b. Christ showed man the truth of life, that is, how to save his life and avoid that can cause him to stumble and lose his life.
1) John 8:12
2) John 12:35
3) John 12:46
4) 2 Corinthians 4:6
5) Ephesians 1:18-19; cf. Ephesians 5:14
6) 1 Peter 2:9-10
7) 1 John 1:5-7
8) 1 John 2:8-11
2. “the darkness did not comprehend it” – The darkness could not extinguish the light.